My Little Girl
by dancerlittle
Summary: Based loosely on the song My Little Girl by Tim McGraw. Find out how Troy deals with letting his little girl grow up.


**A/N: I was listening to a song and got inspirations. This story is loosely based off of "My Little Girl" by Tim McGraw. I'm a sucker for country songs. **

**Disclaimer: I only own the characters not in HSM. This is purely fiction. **

* * *

**_May 24th, 2042 11:00 am_**

Any day when your oldest child steps forward towards a new life, happiness is mixed with a little sadness. That day has finally come for me. My little girl was starting a new life with her best friend, whom she, fortunately, fell in love with.

"_It's a girl, Troy. You got your wish." My wife said grinning at me. _

_Anyone who knew me, knew when my wife announced she was pregnant, I secretly hoped the baby was a girl. I got my wish._

"_Here you go daddy. Your new bundle of joy." The nurse said handing me the wiggly baby. I just turned 28 and now a father for the first time._

"_She looks just like you, baby." I said looking at my wife lovingly. _

"_She's got your eyes. Maybe she'll have your drive for life and determination." My wife whispered as we gazed at the tiny baby. _

"_Hopefully she'll grow up with your beauty and your heart." I said before pressing my lips to the baby's forehead. _

I didn't want my little girl to grow up. She had successfully completed 4 long years at Duke University, my alma mater. She had successfully completed 4 years at Duke Medical School then 4 more years as an intern at John Hopkins University and Medical Center. She always had the dream of becoming a doctor when she grew up.

"_Guess what daddy?" my little girl asked running into the room. Her dark brown pigtails flying behind her as she ran into my arms. She had just turned 5 years old the week before. _

"_What Leah?" I asked taking my eyes off of the television for a second._

"_I know what I'm going to be when I grow up." She told me grinning widely._

"_What are you going to be princess?" I asked pulling her up on my lap. _

"_I'm going to be a doctor." She told me as I looked at her in shocked. At the tender age of five, I had no idea what I wanted to do with the rest of my life. But Leah had always been advanced for her age; a trait she got from her mother._

"_What kind of doctor, baby?" I asked her as she sat on my lap playing with the remote control of the television._

"_A baby doctor daddy." She told me rolling her bright blue eyes in my direction._

"_Of course, how could I be so silly?" I asked her as she threw her head back and laughed._

"_You're silly daddy. And I'm going to college!" She told me proudly as I laughed._

"_I would hope so. Where are you going to go?" I asked her as she looked at me._

"_Duke. I'm going to play for the Bluw Devils." She told me trying to pronounce blue. _

"_That's a good school but you have to work hard to get in there." I told my daughter as I looked into her eyes that were identical to mine. _

"_I promise daddy I'll work hard." She told me nodding her head to make every word._

"_I know you will princess. Now how about we go play some hoops?" I asked the giggling girl._

"_Let go daddy!" She told me racing me outside to where I had installed a basketball court. _

I smiled thinking back to that day. There was never a day I doubted her getting into medical school or going to Duke. She was an amazing basketball player and I'm not just saying that because she's my daughter.

"_Dad!!! It's not going in right!" She complained as we played one on one. _

"_That's because you're not letting it go at the right moment. Just watch." I said picking up the basketball and let it release from my fingertips. _

"_See how I did that?" I asked her as she picked up the basketball and tried again._

"_It's not working!" She sang as I looked at her grinning face._

"_This is how you do it Leah!" Brad, Leah's younger brother, said as he released the ball from his fingertips._

"_Why can Brad do it and I can't?" She asked as I laughed at her frustrated face._

"_You just have to practice a little more. Brad has had to practice at a lot more stuff that comes natural to you." I told her as I heard the backdoor open._

"_Are you guys coming yet?" My wife asked from the porch._

"_Come on you guys. You still have to do homework." I said to the 9 and 6 year old. _

"_Hold on dad, one more time." Leah told me releasing the ball from her fingertips. I watched it sail through the air and land neatly in the hoop._

"_Good job girl!" I said giving her a high five. _

Sometime between when she was 9 and 15 she grew up. I didn't expect her to stay a baby forever but she was my little girl. I was supposed to protect her forever.

"_Daddy? Can I talk to you?" Leah asked me standing in front of me playing with the hem of her shirt._

"_You know you can. What's up?" I asked moving the pile of papers I had been working on over to the side and giving Leah my full attention._

"_It's about a boy." The 16 year admitted to me as I smiled a little._

"_And what boy are we talking about?" I asked her as a smile crept onto her face._

"_You've known him for a long time. Now don't start freaking out." Leah said as I laughed a little._

"_Just tell me, Leah." I told her calmly as she took a breath before opening her mouth._

"_All right. I think I like Joshua Cross." She told me quickly before shutting her eyes tightly._

"_Leah Elisabeth, look at me." I ordered gently as she slowly opened her eyes and smiled._

"_Your mom and I told you that when you turn 16, you can date. You just turned 16. Take your time. Don't be rushing into a relationship just so you can say that. If it's meant to be, then it will be." I told her as she smiled._

"_Are you sure you're all right with this?" She asked me as I smiled at her._

"_I'm fine with it because I have known Josh since he was born. You do what your heart tells you." I told her._

"_Thanks dad." Leah said kissing my cheek before going into the kitchen._

I knew the day she came to tell me about Josh is the day that she found her soul mate. I'm glad my little girl found her soul mate so early in life. They dated throughout high school and straight into college.

"_Don't be mad." My wife told me as I came in the front door. It was September of Leah's senior year._

"_Why would I be mad?" I asked her giving her a curious look._

"_Leah got an envelope from Duke today. She ran upstairs and hid in her room to open it. She's worried that you'll be mad if she doesn't get in." She said as my mouth formed an O. _

"_Has she said anything?" I asked peaking up the stairs._

"_I haven't heard anything. You want to go talk to her?" She asked as I nodded my head._

"_Sure I'll be back." I told her jogging up the stairs and knocking lightly on the wooden door._

"_Leah you in here?" I asked gently pushing open the door. I saw my baby girl sitting on the bed holding a white piece of paper._

"_Dad." She said simply as I took a seat at her desk and looked at her._

"_I'm not going to be mad. It's all right if you didn't get in." I told her gently as she looked at me._

"_Dad . . ." She started as I cut her off again._

"_You've looked at great schools. Any of them would be stupid if they didn't accept you." I told her as she smiled._

"_Dad, I got in." She said handing me the letter before taking it from her fingertips._

_I quickly scanned the letter before looking up at her with a giant smile. I stood up and wrapped my arms around her tiny frame._

"_Congratulations, Leah! You're going to be a Blue Devil." I told her grinning. _

"_You believed in me from the get go and you never stopped encouraging me." Leah told me as I smiled._

"_You're my daughter; of course I'm going to encourage you in everything." I told her as she smiled._

"_I would have never made it if it wasn't for you, mom, Brad, Sara, or Justin." Leah said mention her younger siblings._

"_We're your family. No matter where you are, we'll always be here supporting you. You always have a home here." I told her smiling. _

That was one of the single best days of my life. My baby girl was going to mine and my wife's alma mater. I couldn't be happier.

"_Here you go dad." Leah told me holding out a silver object. _

"_What's this?" I asked her turning around from the computer and looking at her._

"_It's my key. I'm giving it back to you, since I won't need it anymore." Leah told me handing me the key._

"_Keep it Leah. I told you once that you'll always have a home here. What happens if you come back to surprise us and we're not here? Keep it." I told her handing the key back to her._

"_But I feel like I can't come back here and put my feet up on the table anymore." Leah told me._

"_I know how you feel. When I left grandma and grandpa to go off to college, I felt the same way. Grandma made me promise that I would keep my key in case I was ever in the area and needed a place to stay. Now I'm telling you the same thing." I told her smiling._

"_I love you daddy. And thank you for everything you've done." Leah told me giving me a hug and a kiss on the cheek._

And just like that, my wife and I were saying goodbye to our oldest daughter. Four years had passed quickly and before we knew it, she was going to medical school.

"_Well I did it." She said as I picked up the ringing phone and put it to my ear._

"_What did you do?" I asked her as she giggled a little._

"_I got into Duke's Medical school. I'm one step closer to a doctor, daddy." Leah told me as I smiled._

"_That's good. Brad's on his way out there to go back." I told her. Brad had gotten accepted to Duke so both of our oldest children were out in North Carolina._

"_He's here all ready dad. He's chilling out in the apartment." Leah told me laughing._

"_You two behave and I'll talk to you later." I warned as she laughed a little more._

"_I'll try to keep Brad tame. I don't know how good of a job I'll do." Leah told me._

"_Try your best. I'll talk to you later, Leah." I told her before hanging up the phone. _

Just a few short weeks later, I had a surprise visitor pay me a visit. I could honestly say I had been expecting this visitor for some time but didn't know when he would show up.

"_Troy? Can I talk to you?" Josh asked me stepping into the house._

"_Sure. How's Leah doing?" I asked as he followed me into the living room._

"_She's good. She's studying her butt off for the MCAT. It's coming up in the next few weeks. Actually she doesn't know I'm here." Josh said hanging his head a little._

"_Josh I've known you since you were born. What's on your mind?" I asked the man I have thought as a son for a long time._

"_I know I've been dating Leah for 5 long years. Now I've come to ask you for her hand in marriage." Josh said looking up at me with his blue eyes he got from Jason._

"_I kind of figured that's why you were here. You know you're going to be the main man in her life now?" I asked him as he nodded._

"_I know that and I promise you that she means the world to me. I'm not going to break her heart." Josh told me as I smiled at him._

"_I know you're not. You may ask Leah to marry you." I told him smiling. _

"_Thank you, Troy." Josh said looking at me grinning._

"_You can relax right now. I felt the same way when I asked Gabi's parents for her hand. It was so nerve racking. Do your parents know you're in town?" I asked him._

"_Nah I was going to surprise them. Leah will be back in a few weeks so I wanted to do this before she came back and then I couldn't ask you while she was around." Josh admitted to me._

"_Good thinking. You two are good together and I wish you all the luck in the future." I told him as he smiled at me._

"_Thanks a lot, Troy. I was a little nervous on how you were going to take me asking you." Josh admitted to me._

"_I couldn't say no to you. I've seen how you treat Leah and that's exactly how I want a man to treat her." I told him before nodding my head. _

Within the next few weeks, Leah and Josh were engaged. Leah was ecstatic and crazy at the same time. I remember getting a phone call in the middle of the night from a crazy bride to be.

"_Daddy!" I heard over the phone as I picked it up._

"_What's wrong Leah?" I asked the crying girl 2,000 miles away from New Mexico._

"_It's not working." She said simply as I sat up in bed._

"_What's not working?" I asked her as she sniffled a little._

"_The wedding plans aren't coming together. The MCAT is tomorrow and I'm not nearly ready for them." She said still crying a little._

"_Honey, you've studied your butt off for the MCAT; you are beyond prepared. Just have a little faith. As for wedding plans, you've got time before you need to book stuff. Everything will come together." I told her smiling a little._

"_Thank you daddy. Is momma there?" Leah asked me as I nudged Gabi and handed her the phone. _

_I sat there listening to Gabi's side of the phone all while I had a smile on my face. _

Of course, knowing my daughter, she did fine on the MCAT. That was her ticket into any residence program she wanted. She chose John Hopkins with good reason. It was the best OB-GYN program in the U.S. And for my baby, she always got the best.

"Hey are you all right?" Gabi asked walking behind me as I stared out the window.

"Twenty five years seemed to pass by in an instant." I said turning away from the window and looking at her.

"You're telling me. How are you feeling?" Gabi asked wrapping her arms around my shoulders.

"I'm fine. Just thinking about the past 25 years. She's all grown up." I told her smiling a little.

"She's got a great husband to be; before we know it, she'll be a doctor. We've done a great job raising her." Gabi told me smiling.

"That we have!" I said looking at her with a smile.

"Daddy?" I heard Leah's sweet voice call as I turned around and saw her standing on the stairs ready to come down.

"Hi princess. Are you ready?" I asked her turning around and seeing her for the first time in her dress.

"I think so. The nerves have kicked in a little." She admitted as I smiled at her.

"You'll be fine. I'll see you two up there." Gabi told us as I kissed her cheek before Brad came to take Gabi up to the front.

"Daddy, I'm going to be fine aren't I?" Leah asked me once we were alone.

"You're going to be an amazing wife, mother, and doctor. You are mine and mom's daughter; you can do anything you set your mind to." I told her kissing her cheek.

Before I knew it, I took my first step towards guiding my little girl to her new life.

* * *

**I hope you guys like it. I was listening to the song and thought about how Troy would feel if he was letting his little girl go. Feedback would be most appreciated!!!**


End file.
